Nancy Pelosi Basically Just Canceled Trump’s State Of The Union Address

Nancy Pelosi just gave the Speaker of the House’s version of a slap across the face to President Trump. In a letter to the president, Pelosi said it’s probably better to reschedule the president’s State of the Union address until after the shutdown is over.

“He can make it from the Oval Office if he wants,” she told reporters later.

The letter, which cites “security concerns,” limited resources for supporting agencies, and the fact that no president has ever issued a State of the Union during a government shutdown, also invites Trump to submit his State of the Union in writing.

The constitution calls on the president to “from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union” but there’s no requirement or directive that it be in the form of a speech. Most presidents delivered the State of the Union in writing until Woodrow Wilson revived the practice of doing it in person in the early 20th century.

The notion of a House Speaker asking a president about a House scheduling matter just doesn't make sense on its own terms.

My colleague @kaitlancollins adds some context: Stephen Miller and other WH speechwriters have been working on the SOTU address for weeks. An administration official said they were prepared to craft it around the government shutdown, targeting Democrats, if it was still closed

Before everyone in MAGA land gets in a huff about Pelosi being “rude” or doing something “unprecedented,” let’s take a trip in the wayback machine to when House Speaker John Boehner forced President Obama to reschedule an address to Congress.

And in the interest of preempting inevitable fake outrage, and the hoodwinking of people with short memories. pic.twitter.com/7s91xSwLa0

Obama originally requested to issue his address—which was about job creation in the middle of the greatest economic collapse since the Great Depression—on the night of a Republican presidential primary debate. Boehner forced Obama to reschedule for a week later.